


And Laurent Jack Zimmermann Was Born

by harvroth



Series: Milestones of Bob and Alicia Zimmermann [5]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, The error in the title is intentional, but stick until the end because there's lots of happy baby love, child birth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 09:29:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10273772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harvroth/pseuds/harvroth
Summary: If her body wasn't completely flooded with love already, it would have been as soon she'd looked at Bob. She imagined it was quite a feat for him to actually see their son through all the tears that were coming out of his big brown eyes, but her heart squeezed with the love in her husband's expression. It was intense.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I sort of got carried away with all the labour descriptions (quite a lot for someone yet to go through it). I probably went through a million websites and made notes and I can only hope I didn’t make it completely inaccurate, there are a few bits I missed out, for the sake of less gory details. I’m not sure if I rushed her labour a little bit, though everyone has a different experience after all. (please don’t knock my labour writing skills too much haha I did my research and tried my best, though if there is something necessary that needs adding please tell me) anyway, there is a nice ending, I hope I didn’t scare you off already.  
> Also Tsoi prompted this which I appreciate it because whether I did it well or not, it was incredibly lovely to write!

**Friday, 3rd of August 1990**

Try as she might, Alicia could no longer ignore the period pain like cramping in her stomach that had been happening throughout the whole day. It had started out pretty irregular, just a shift in position had relieved it and she’d been able to carry on what she was doing, or in this instance, fall back asleep easily to the sound of Bob’s soft breathing. However, waking up this time, she’d not been able to dull the pain in her stomach for what was probably only 20 seconds but felt longer, which, if the books Bob had read aloud were anything to go by (which they probably were considering all 4 of them had said the same) she was close to going into labour.

It was only early labour though; she was 40 weeks, right on time, no need to panic.

Only, despite the fact the contraction had ended, she couldn’t get back to sleep. She laid flat on her back, rubbing her lower bump until, around 25 minutes later; she felt another cramp coming on. This one lasted around the same length of time as the first had and was no more painful but Alicia was wide awake now.

It would be a while before their baby would be due and since all the books had advised not going into hospital until the contractions were longer, stronger and closer together, there would be no point in panicking. Or waking Bob up. She would not wake Bob up. It would be pointless; he’d just worry and try to take her hospital despite all the information telling them to wait (Bob should know he was the one who had spent half the pregnancy researching every little detail. He could now proudly recite facts of a baby’s development from being a sex cell right up to puberty.)

So instead, she’d just take a few deep breaths, roll out of bed and go downstairs, lest she be tempted to wake her husband up and alarm him. He didn’t need to be alarmed. It was only early contractions.

Struggling down the stairs with one hand gripping the banister, the other cradling her huge bump, she tried to calm herself down. Tried to convince herself she didn’t need to wake Bob up and that they didn’t need to go to the hospital immediately. She’d only had two proper contractions, which was nothing, she could have hours yet. She just needed to record the progress, take note of the length of time between each contraction, the length of the contraction itself and whether or not it was stronger. It would be fine. Midwives knew what they were doing, they wouldn’t tell you to wait to go into hospital if they didn’t mean it, would they?

But what if there were problems early on, Alicia certainly wouldn’t know.

Alicia shut that thought down as soon as it popped into her head, taking another deep breath and telling herself it would be okay, she _would_ know if there were problems, it would be a mother’s instinct, she was sure. The baby was in her own body, she’d be able to feel its distress, she knew.

As soon as she’d finally reached the bottom of the stairs she felt another contraction coming on, and that had not been 25 minutes, it had taken her a while to heave herself off the bed and down the stairs but it hadn’t taken that long. Using both hands to cradle her bump this time, she took deep breaths as the cramp built up and reduced in what she was sure was longer than 20 seconds. She wasn’t tricking herself either when she swore it was more painful.

Once the cramp had reduced, but leaving the backache with her, Alicia ended up leant on the wall, her head back so her neck was exposed, as she once again tried to convince herself now was not the right time to panic. She couldn’t quite remember how quickly the contractions generally progressed, but she remembered that if the contractions lasted 30-60 seconds and occurred every 5 minutes, that was the best time to call a midwife. She could wait. She would have to wait. In the meantime she would hobble to the kitchen, drink some of Bob’s energy drink and go and watch some mindless television.

All was well until another 17 minutes passed and she got another contraction that was most definitely longer and stronger than the last had been and apparently, after 12 hours of pre-labour pains, this labour was progressing quickly.

She needed Bob. The only problem was how long it would take her to get upstairs, it was harder getting upstairs than it was down and she would probably have had two more contractions by the time she got upstairs. Shouting probably wouldn’t be the most effective solution either, not with their bedroom being at the end of the hallway and Alicia hardly had the energy to bellow.

Alicia gasped, remembering the phone line they had upstairs, if she dialled their own number would the call come through? There was only one way to find out otherwise she would probably have to drag herself upstairs again and then probably end up having the baby on the landing.

Waddling to the phone, and feeling like an elephant, she hurriedly put their number in. It took a few seconds but she could suddenly hear the familiar trilling and if she could hear that then Bob certainly could. He wasn’t _that_ much of a deep sleeper.

Luckily, it only took 10 seconds before the ringing stopped and there was a gravelly “hello?” through the phone.

“Bobby,” She breathed, not wanting to overload Bob with panic before he was actually awake.

It took another few seconds before, “Alicia?” he sounded awake now, “are you okay? Where are you? Why are you-“

Yeah he was definitely awake now, “Bobby,” she interrupted firmly while she had the energy, “I’m fine, sort of, I’m downstairs, I’ve been having proper contractions-“

Alicia wasn’t even halfway through before she heard a thud and then heavy, fast footsteps down the landing, down the stairs and into the living room. She couldn’t help but grin, phone still in hand and already feeling a little calmer, as Bob sprinted in, wide eyed, tousled hair and dressed only in his briefs.

Eyes falling on to her, seeing her still standing and not currently in pain, he relaxed fractionally but didn’t waste any time before approaching her.

“Get your shoes on, we’ve got to go the hospital!” he said frantically, examining her.

Putting the phone down and grabbing his face, she shook her head, “no, not yet, the contractions are 15 to 20 minutes apart and still only about 30 seconds long, we need to stay here a little while longer. Until they’re about 5 minutes apart and a lot more painful, okay?” She said, firmly again, and she couldn’t believe she was reassuring him when she was the one who was hours away from pushing a human out of her vagina, “I just need you to… rub my back or something when the pain comes.” She wouldn’t be totally surprised if she had to rub his back while she contracted, though.

Bob stared at her for a few, searching her eyes before he seemingly found what he was looking for. Nodding, he gulped and stood straight, this time grabbing her face and pressing a shaky kiss to her forehead, “okay ma Chérie, anything you need,” he breathed, softly. It calmed her more. She felt a ton stronger, as if, now Bob was with her, there was no chance of problems and that she could get through the pain that was gradually getting worse.

Right on cue, a contraction hit, stronger and heavier than the last one, and she groaned out, dropping her head to Bob’s chest that was cool and solid and was nice to lay her forehead against. Vaguely, even with her eyes clenched shut; she could sense Bob’s panic.

“Rub my back,” she gritted out and Bob jumped to action, rubbing her back in a miraculously sturdy and not unsure way that surprisingly helped her breathing.

After what felt like forever, and not the 35 seconds it must have been, the pain died down and she slumped into Bob’s arms, breathing heavily. This had surpassed period pains pretty quickly. She was exhausted.

“Okay?” Bob’s breathing sounded shakier than her own but he was still stroking her back which was still comforting.

Nodding, she pulled back, “can we sit down?” She asked. Bob already looked wrecked. He also looked as if he was having an internal debate on whether he should whisk her to hospital right now or not. Admittedly, Alicia wanted to go, but if it was advised they wait...

They wouldn’t turn her away, surely, not if the stronger contractions were coming this fast, anyway...

No, they could wait. She was in her comfort zone here, she was at home, and if she was listening to the screams this early it would frighten her far too much. She was better off at home until she absolutely needed to be in the hospital.

  
   
**_/•\\_/•\\_/•\\_/•\\_**

  
   
It took a further two contractions that were now only 7 minutes apart and for her waters to break for Bob to decide he was taking her to the hospital. Alicia couldn't agree more. She was nearly crying in pain by the time they’d gotten dressed in fairly suitable clothes and got the bag Alicia had prepared a couple of weeks ago, with everything they needed.

She’d been so excited, packing the bag with the gorgeous little gender neutral clothes they’d found and the sterilised bottles they’d gotten in case she couldn’t breast feed, and all the bits she’d need herself, but now she was really in too much pain to be excited. If anything, she was just desperate. She couldn’t wait to have her baby out and in her arms, but right now, as she huffed her way to the car, Bob’s arms tight around her while he tried his hardest not to rush her, it was more for the fact she was in agony and she could barely walk at all, already feeling as if she had a watermelon waiting to be pushed out.

Thirty minutes, 5 contractions and 2 panicked stops later, they finally reached the hospital. The contractions had rapidly reached just over a minute and were coming 4 minutes after one other. And they were fucking excruciating. After entering the hospital, Alicia was only seconds away from stopping to try and push, to relieve the pressure in her pelvis, but a midwife had seen her and god that wheelchair she was pushing looked fucking great.

All the way through the journey to the room and the examination Alicia was in too much pain to pay attention to anything but the pain in her lower body. She could very vaguely hear the voices of the staff and the screams of both mothers and babies and machine beeps. Out of all those, though, the most prominent was Bob’s voice which sounded so incredibly panicked but still grounded her the tiniest bit, still reassured her it was going to be okay and there was a point to all this pain and it would be worth it, as well as the hand she was flattening in her own which also helped.

As another contraction came and she clamped down harder on her husband’s hand, she also decided she hated him just a tiny bit too.  This was his fucking doing after all.

Before she really knew what was happening, apart from the endless reminder that there was a baby trying to get out of her vagina, she was in a bed, her legs spread wide, two midwives stood between them and Bob at her side. Bob was muttering something frantic in French, most probably trying to reassure himself it was going to be okay as she was told to push, he seemed to realise, though, as Alicia crushed his hand once again, they both needed reassuring and began to recite something equally as frantic in English. It was only the tiniest bit comforting, but she craved even the smallest comfort.

“Okay, honey, you're doing incredibly well, I can see the head, just hold your pushing for a few and focus on your breath. Just blow them out while the next couple of contractions pass,” one of the midwives from in between her legs said softly. It took a few seconds to register the words, and a few more seconds to put them in to action, to stop pushing and breathe slowly. It was the most difficult thing she’d ever done, she could feel herself being fucking stretched, she either needed to squeeze it out or back in again but neither were good ideas, not if she wanted the baby out without complications. Which she most certainly wanted the baby out without complications. She wanted that more than anything in the world.

After another two contractions, after Alicia was told to push once again, _she fucking pushed_. She was drowning in sweat, sobbing and probably putting her husband, who was mumbling (nearly incoherent) words of what she assumed were encouragement but she was too focused on the hot and stinging sensation around her hole to focus on, and she was fucking pushing like her life depended on it, like her baby’s life depended on it, which it did.

There was another sharp burst of pain and then it was over.

Alicia barely had time to breathe, barely had time to think before “it’s a boy!”  was called out and only a fraction of a second later there was a loud screeching noise that squeezed Alicia’s whole heart, made it beat a million times faster than it ever had, because it was the best sound she’d ever heard in her entire life, and it was coming from her baby, her son, _their son_!

She lifted her head which made her entire heart stop and squeeze and fill and start beating with a whole new enthusiasm as her eyes narrowed in on the tiny, loud and screaming, human that was theirs and that she had just pushed out of her body and that she so fucking desperately wanted to get her hands on right this second.

Alicia watched enthralled, and newly energized as Bob, whose eyes were streaming with tears was handed the scissors to shakily cut the umbilical cord that was still attached to mother and child. She couldn’t help but let out an almighty sob as she then watched the midwives wipe and weigh her son before he was finally, _finally_ , handed to Alicia with a softly said, “he’s 9lb 12ozs,” and placed on her chest, his skin to her skin. Her whole world narrowed down to both her husband who was roaring inches away from her and to her son, as she got her first proper look at him, his red scrunched up face that should be no means attractive but was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen in her life, his wrinkly skin that was blue, and his bright red lips and his little nose that already looked like it was going to be long and straight, his chubby cheeks, his tiny nails and his tiny fingers that Alicia couldn’t stop from stroking. His fingers twitched and Alicia couldn’t help another sob she let out because he was real, he was here and healthy and breathing and she’d carried him for a whole nine months and pushed him out and _he was here, in her arms_.

She was overwhelmed with a million different emotions that were just utterly indescribable. She'd been overwhelmed at the scans, seeing the little white blob on the screen and knowing that it was what was growing inside her, but this was on a whole new level, this was touching that little white blob that was now a living real thing that she could feel breathing against her, could feel him squirming, could see his face and body and the wisps of bleach blond hair, could press her fingers to his chest and feel his heart beating. 

Could fall in love with him a million times over.  
   
It was incredibly difficult to tear her eyes away but she wanted to look at Bob to see he was feeling the same, she could hear him crying uncontrollably as she admired their son, anyway.

If her body wasn't completely flooded with love  
already, it would have been as soon she'd looked at Bob. She imagined it was quite a feat for him to actually see their son through all the tears that were coming out of his big brown eyes, but her heart squeezed with the love in her husband's expression. It was _intense._

  
   
   
**_/•\\_/•\\_/•\\_/•\\_**  
 

  
Once the placenta had been delivered problem free, which Alicia barely noticed at all, and they'd discovered he was happy to be breast fed; her son had to be temporarily taken from her to be cleaned and dressed. It was a struggle giving him away, when she wanted to feel and cuddle and stare at him forever, but it was also a complete delight to see Bob be the one to do the cleaning and dressing. She watched with the biggest smile on her face the whole time as the midwife guided a big shaky sniffly NHL player through caring for his son.

Giggling, heart filling with more love as each second passed, Alicia stared as Bob fastened the onesie up, having to stop at every other one to wipe his eyes.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Alicia had barely taken notice of the midwife as she left with a smile.

Bob had finally finished with their son’s onesie and had wrapped him a blanket with Penguins all over (because of _course_ ) and had scooped him up, his tears, which had slowed considerably, started anew as he cradled their son to his chest, nuzzling the baby’s hair with his cheek.

Alicia cried too. She’d never felt anything quite like she did now, all the love in the world – the universe - thrumming through her veins as she looked at her boys, her best friends, her soul mates, the loves of her lives: her beautiful husband and her beautiful son. She felt like everything in the world was right, she felt like they were in a bubble that not a soul on the planet could invade, she felt like she was the luckiest woman in the world.

She was aware they’d have to ring their families soon, tell them they were parents ( _they were parents_!) and they’d had a little boy and she was so excited to do so, but she was also more than content for just the three of them to be in this bubble, the three of them to be in on the secret that the newest Zimmermann was in the world and he was the most precious and loved thing she was ever going to come across. She hoped he’d know that, for the rest of his life know, no matter what, no matter who he was, who he loved, what he wanted to be he was utterly adored and protected.

“Mon dieu, Alicia, thank you,” Bob bawled, squeezing next to her on the hospital bed, perhaps it was a little small for the two of them, but she couldn’t get close enough to them, she wanted them by her side for as long as possible.

Alicia hiccupped slightly as Bob shifted, their son resting on his left arm and his right over her who snuggled into him, “it wasn’t just me, Bobby,” she whispered, running her fingers from their son’s forehead, over his eyebrows, down his cheek, round his ear before they fell to rest on her husband’s arm.

“He grew inside of you though, you kept him safe and healthy and you delivered him, god you’re so strong Alicia. Strong and beautiful and kind and loving and you’re going to be the best mama in the world. I love you. I love you and our baby, our son, more than anything.”

Overwhelmed, once again, with love, Alicia couldn’t reply. Instead, she pulled back, her hand still on Bob and tilted her head for a kiss. Not wasting any time in leaning in, Bob kissed her back and it felt like their first kiss all over again, she couldn’t help but fall more and more in love with him.

Huffing, their son, the poor neglected little thing, interrupted them. Laughing, they both pulled away to look down at him, his eyes were open for the first time since he’d been washed and they were pale blue, and definitely Alicia’s but his own too and so much more beautiful.

“Laurent Zimmermann” Bob said above her as they continued to stare at their creation.

Snorting, Alicia lifted her head to look at him, eyebrow raised, “ _Jack_ Laurent Zimmermann,” she corrected her husband.

Bob’s eyes flickered away from Jack to hers, there was a teasing look in them but also a look that told her he'd never been happier or more in love. 

Alicia felt exactly the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I hope this made you as emotional reading as it did writing, I had to take a few breaks I was pretty overwhelmed. Saying that, I've never given birth, I hope I did the whole falling in love thing justice!  
> Also, my tumblr is claycro, come follow me and give me more lovely (or angsty) prompts! Xx  
> Let me know if you enjoyed this too please, I want to know more on this than on my others because this was a lot more different!


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